Love the Source of Love

Bhagavan Baba exhorts devotees to seek the true source of love—God Himself who is immanent in every being in this world. In this Shivaratri discourse from more than four decades back, Baba encourages everyone to see and serve the God in every manifested form as the true path to salvation.

In the past couple of days you all had the chance to drink the nectar of ananda (bliss) here. I am happy that you have the chance today to imbibe the sweet nectar of spiritual discourses.

I see that you all are like the waves of the ocean when the moon rises in the sky. Of course, the prema (love) you have for the source of all prema [Swami] is the real reason for this ananda I see on your faces. My arrival [incarnation], and My resolve to re‑establish dharma (virtue) are both the consequence of this prema as you can well understand.

But, this ananda must be directed along useful channels of activity. The value of the eye will be known only when we go blind. The value of water can be known only when there is scarcity, not when all the taps are plentifully filling the buckets. When tanks and wells go dry, men cry out for a cup of water. So, too, [it is with] the case with this ananda. Gather it, garner it, develop it, and irrigate parched hearts with it while you still can.

In the past, Shankara [a saint and philosopher] strove to re‑establish in the heart of man the faith that he is the limitless Almighty; he tried to remove vicious traits that had taken residence there so that man can move toward his reality.

With just a glimpse of that reality, man is freed from ego, pride, and despondency such that neither praise pleases him nor abuse saddens him. He is rendered stable and secure, like a mountain peak, which no storm can shake.  He is unaffected by the fire of calumny or the rain of extolment much like the screen in the cinema. The Buddha once said at Bodh Gaya [the place where Buddha attained enlightenment] that good and bad, fame and ill‑fame, praise and calumny, are like the two feet; one [foot] cannot move by itself. They are inter-twined and mandatory in the process of living. Food and offal are both inside man; he has veins that support the flow of the red blood as well as the blue. A city has pipes under it for bringing in drinking water and for taking away the drainage.

Do good & make them happy

A nastika (atheist) came to the Buddha and challenged him in violent language, abusing him, and casting aspersions on him and his associates that exhibited foul manners of the most reprehensible kind.  The Buddha listened to him but did not react at all. The poor fellow’s tongue got exhausted and he became mad with anger. He [the man] left in a great huff.

When asked why He did not reply, the Buddha said, “When someone comes to your door with  the intent  to be your guest, the slightest indication that you have become aware of his coming with a  greeting like `hello’ or `when did you come?” is enough to make him settle down in the house. But, if you do not notice him or react to his talk, he will return without much ado.”

Many of you are pained by the calumny that some papers are indulging in, regarding Me. Many are urging that something should be done about it. But I am holding everyone back, for, that is the best way to deal with both praise and blame. The ocean knows no overflowing or drying up. It is ever full, ever majestic, and ever unconcerned.

I have been advising you to do good to others, to make others happy, and to help others live comfortably. This is called sat karma (beneficial act). Now, these [news] papers that live on falsehood are able to scrape together a little money from people with low tastes. That is a beneficial act; again, the people who spread such fantastic absurdities, knowing them to be false and knowing that they are manufactured by their own brains, get joy out of this exercise. Do not stop them from it, for, without spending a single naya paisa [penny in Indian currency] you are now able to give them joy. Let them revel in their own mud. Joy is what one derives from one’s own mind; when the mind is vicious, it derives joy from vicious things. When it is pure, only purity can give it joy.

God appears as many & varied

Hiranyakashipu [a demonic king] declared that God is nowhere; his son Prahlada said that God is now here. The father suffered humiliation and destruction. The son rose to the heights of blessedness. The son knew that all this is God appearing as many and varied.

A young daughter‑in‑law, a newcomer to the family, was serving dinner to the members of the household. Diners asked for ghee [clarified butter], butter, and buttermilk (yogurt) she simplified the process of serving by giving them `milk’ instead, for she felt that milk included all they wanted.

When you are immersed in the ananda of the Lord, you are master of all the lesser anandas also. When you dive into the sea, you must seek pearls; when you go to the kalpavriksha (the wish-fulfilling tree) ask for the highest bliss. Do not crave for the smaller when the vastest is available for just a little more effort.

There is a natural craving in man to become one with the vast, the supreme, and the limitless because in the cave of his heart there resides the self‑same Supreme. It is much like the young calf pining for the cow. Each calf knows its mother. You may have a thousand calves and a thousand cows. Let loose the calves and each will find its own mother. So, too, you must know where you get your native sustenance and support. This is available only with God, from whom you came.

Sad condition of humanity

There must be a sense of urgency in you when you take to the spiritual path, for, death is lying in wait to snatch you off. At a ferry on the [river] Ganges, hundreds were waiting for the boat to return from the opposite bank. When the boat came, they hustled onto it. While the boatman was rowing it [the boat] across, they quarreled with the fellow passengers and the boatman. They were immersed in factions and fighting, haggling over the fare, and demanding a few more inches of squatting space. They were unaware of the danger to their very lives. One wise man among them warned them and said, “Brothers! In ten minutes, we reach hard ground. Please keep quiet, forget these petty desires and pray to God.” This is the sad condition of humanity also at present. On the brink of death, people revel and waste precious moments in empty pleasures.

The fault is identification with the body. The body is but a dwelling place, a vehicle, and an encasement. See yourself, as a resident in it and most of your grief will disappear. You will become less ego‑centric, for, you will then feel kinship with others, who are residents in those other bodies.

Vivekananda was once in a certain town during his peregrinations. People recognized   him as a great monk and a profound scholar and so, for about three days without intermission streams of visitors poured into his presence. Some asked about subtle points in sadhana [spiritual practice] while many argued with him about the intricacies of logic, grammar, and ethics that are found in the shastras [scriptures]. Students sought to know the problems of national regeneration and the solutions he could suggest. There was an old woman sitting in a corner watching Vivekananda with avidity, who did not speak one word. She was there for all the three days, waiting eagerly for a chance to come near the monk.

Qualities that win God’s grace

When the lady finally got the chance, she asked him, “Son! Shall I bring you something to eat? These people never gave you anything, nor did they give you even a few minutes to go and seek food from the town. Tell me, I shall run and bring you food and drink.” Vivekananda was overjoyed at the tender heart of that mother. He said, “You are indeed blessed. What can mere scholarship or mere earnestness do to serve, to save man? Sympathy, service, putting yourselves in your neighbor’s place, and trying to assuage pain and sorrow⎯that is what wins [Divine] grace.” Through love and service, the mind is cleared of ego and God is reflected therein.

A man borrowed money from another and promised to return it at sunrise the next day. The other fellow asked, “How are you certain that the sun will rise tomorrow?” At this, the creditor retorted, “How are you certain that I will live to repay it or that you will live to take it back?” Everything about life is uncertain. So march on, from this very moment, take at least a few steps toward the goal, while you can. That very attempt might induce the Lord to extend your stay until you attain the goal.

Love for the Lord should not degenerate into fanaticism and hatred of other names and forms. This type of cancer is affecting even eminent men nowadays; but, you must avoid it. Believe that all who revere the Lord and walk in fear of sin are your brothers, your nearest kith and kin. Their outer dress, language, skin color, or even the methods they adopt to express their reverence and fear are not important at all.

Sugar dolls are valued for the sugar, not the shapes they are given by the manufacturer. Their sweetness makes men purchase them. It does not matter whether the sugar dolls are in the shape of an elephant, dog, cat, rat, jackal, or lion. That is a matter of individual fancy. Each is sweet, and that is the essential thing. The sweetness draws the manava (man) towards Madhava (God): the pravritti (deed) towards nivritti (dedication), and the ananda (joy) towards sath-chith-ananda (bliss in the awareness of the supreme being). When the appetite for these [higher aspirations] grows, all lower desires and hungers cease.

The best form of serving God

Prahlada [a young devotee] knew the truth, “sarvam Vishnu mayam jagat⎯the entire world is filled with the immanent God.” He knew it by study and by experience; he knew it as an ever‑present fact. So, when he was asked to frame a boon to be granted by the Lord who concretized before him, he asked neither for the revival of his father nor for the restoration of his kingdom, nor for long life, wealth, or fame; instead, he asked for the chance to assuage the pain and sorrow of all beings. Prahlada knew that God was manifest as those beings and the best method of serving God was to serve those manifestations and give them relief and joy. The tongue must justify itself by sweet, soothing words, and the hand by soft harmless acts. The body must be spent in upavasa⎯being in the constant presence of the divine.

Many of you misunderstand upavasa to mean `fasting’ and I know, that you overdo it. You fast on Monday to please Shiva, on Tuesday to please Lakshmi, on Wednesday to propitiate some other God, on Thursday in My name, on Friday for Gowri, on Saturday for fear of Shani [Saturn], and on Sunday to get the favor of the Sun. Lal Bahadur Shastri [late prime minister of India] wanted that you should fast one day to help solve the food crisis, but you are prepared to help him much further. Now, this fasting will not bring you nearer to the grace of God.

Be moderate

Upavasa means that all your thoughts, deeds, and words on those holy days must be about God, and that you should spend the day `near’ Him, ‘in’ Him, and ‘for’ Him. It means that eating, sleeping, and other bodily avocations have to take the secondary role, while meditation and japam [repeating Lord’s name] have to take the main role. If your body wastes away as a result of these fasts, God will be blamed; so, you are only drawing down the calumny of people on the God you adore. They will come to you and say, “Before you started this Sai Baba puja [prayer], you were looking much better; now, you have become so thin and frail, you can scarcely move.” And they will continue talking against Me in the same strain.

Do not overdo anything; be moderate and wise. You speak of My being sarva-bhoota‑ antaratma (the inner motivator of all beings) and sarvavyapi (all‑pervading); yet, you get angry and upset when you are prevented from coming here for Navaratri or Shivaratri [festivals]. You should not belie the faith you have in the omnipresence. Women especially have to be obedient to their elders and husbands. Do not feel that the husband or the children are hindrances. You should not entertain the slightest trace of disgust at either of these. Worship the husband as the Lord; serve the children as Yashoda [Krishna’s mother] served Sri Krishna. See in them the Lord you revere.

In the days of Emperor Krishnadevaraya, an infectious disease appeared and gained ground quickly in Vijayanagar city. It was reported that the disease spread through rats and so, each house was supplied with a cat and a `cat allowance’ for feeding the animals. But the rats showed no signs of decline in numbers. After a few days, it was discovered that everyone misused the cat allowance and the cats had become too weak to pounce upon the rats and catch them for eating.

The cats must be fed, so that they may eat the rats. So too, the body must be fed so that wicked tendencies, sensual appetites, and evil propensities may be vigorously attacked and put down. Unless this work is done, the divine in man cannot bloom. The earth around the trunk of certain trees has to be aerated now and then so that the roots might get strong; the branches have to be trimmed so that blossoms might appear and fruits might be obtained. So, too, man has to dig around the edges of the mind, trim the traits of character, and tend the tree of life.

Calamities are God’s grace

Practice the attitude of offering every act at the feet of God as a flower is offered in puja. Make every breath an offering to Him. Do not be upset by calamities; take them as acts of grace. If a man loses his hand in an accident, he must believe that it was the Lord’s grace that saved his life. When you know that nothing happens without His sankalpa (resolve), everything that happens has a value added to it. You may be neglecting a creeper in your backyard, but if a sage passes by and says it is a rare drug that can cure snake poison, you erect a fence around it and do not allow children to pluck its leaves even for fun. When you know that the Lord is the cause and the source of all, you deal with everyone in a humble reverent manner. That is the path that will quickly lead you to the goal.

Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 6